Sugar Futures Advance on Global Supply Concerns; Coffee, Cocoa Decline.

Sugar rose for a third day on concern supplies from India, the world’s second-biggest producer, and Australia, the third-largest exporter, will be limited. Coffee and cocoa declined.

Shipments from Queensland Sugar Ltd., which handles more than 90 percent of Australia’s exports, may drop 14 percent for the year ending June 30 from the previous year, said Neil Taylor, the Brisbane-based company’s chief executive officer. India will be “cautious” on ending export limits to ensure adequate domestic supplies, K.V. Thomas, a junior farm minister, said Nov. 15.

“The fundamental news continues to be supportive of the tightness to come,” Michael McDougall, a senior vice president at Newedge USA, wrote in a report today. People are concerned about India’s exports, he said.

Raw sugar for March delivery added 0.62 cent, or 2.3 percent, to settle at 27.95 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, extending this week’s gain to 6.9 percent. U.S. markets will be closed tomorrow for the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Nobody is sure about the timing and the extent of the Indian exports -- it is a big unknown,” Emmanuel Jayet, the head of agricultural commodity research at Societe Generale SA in London, said today by telephone. “We have expectations of exports between 2 and 3.5 million tons.”

In London, refined-sugar futures for March delivery added $28.70, or 4.2 percent, to $709.70 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe.

Robusta-coffee futures for March delivery fell $17, or 0.9 percent, to $1,851 a ton on NYSE Liffe. In New York, Arabica- coffee futures for March delivery declined 3.1 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $2.0745 a pound.

Cocoa futures for March delivery lost $11, or 0.4 percent, to $2,793 a ton in New York. In London, cocoa futures for March delivery rose 2 pounds, or 0.1 percent, to 1,862 pounds ($2,937) a ton.

Source : bloomberg.com